1. Therefore, first of all, labour to hare good rules to guide it, and then labour to obey those rules. Knowledge and obedience are necessary, that conscience may give a good witness. Now, a good witness of conscience is twofold : a true and honest witness, and then a peaceable witness fol- lows on it ; that it may witness truth, and then that it may witness peace for us.
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 12. 213
That conscience may witness truly and excuse us, conscience must be rightly instructed ; for naturally conscience can tell us many things. The heathen men, philosophers, we may read it to our shame, they made con- science of things which Christians, that are instructed by a further rule than conscience, that have the book of God to rectify the inward book of conscience, yet they make no conscience of. How many cases did they make scruple of, to discover faults to the buyer in their selling, and to deal truly and honestly, for the second table especially ! It should make Chris- tians ashamed.
But besides that rule, we have the rule of the Scriptures, because men are ready to trample upon and to rase out the writing of conscience, but the book of God they canujot ; therefore, that is added to help conscience. And God adds his Spirit to his word to convince conscience, and to make the witness of the word more eliectual ; for although the word say thus and thus, yet till the Spirit convince the soul, and set it down that it is thus, till it convince it with a heavenly light, conscience will not be fully convict. That conscience, therefore, may be able to witness well, let us regard the notions of nature, preserve them. If we do not, God will give us up to gross sins. Let us labour to have right principles and grounds, to cherish principles of nature common with the heathens, and to lay up principles out of the word of God, to preserve the admonitions, and directions, and rules of the word.
And especially the sweet motions of God's blessed Spirit. For conscience alway supposeth a rule, the rule of nature, the rule of the word, and the suggestions of the blessed Spirit with the word.
Therefore, to note by the way, an ignorant man can never have a good conscience, especially a man that affects ignorance, because he hath no rule. He labours to have none. It is not merely ignorance, but likewise obstinacy with ignorance.
He will not know what he should, lest conscience will force him to do what he knows. What a sottish thing is this ! It will be the heaviest sin that can be laid to our charge at the day of judgment, not that we were ig- norant, but that we refused to know, we refused to have our conscience rectihed and instructed.
And those that avoid knowledge because they will not do what they know, they shall know one day that their wilful ignorance will be laid to their charge as a heavy sin.
Labour to have right principles and grounds. What is the reason that commonly men have such bad consciences ? They have false principles. They conclude. May I not do what I list ? may I not make of my own what I will ? and every man for himself, and God for us all. Diabolical principles ! And so, commonly if a man examine men that live in wicked- ness, they have false principles, God sees not, God regards not, and it is time enough to repent. The cause that men live wickedly is false prin- ciples. Therefore they have so vile consciences as they have. Their hearts deceive them, and they deceive their hearts. They have false principles put into them by others. They are deceived, and they deceive their hearts. They force false principles upon themselves. Many study for false grounds to live by for their advantage.
There are many that are atheistical, that live even under the gospel, and what rule have they ? The example of them by whom they hope to rise. They study their manners. They square then- lives by them. This is all the rule they have.
214 COMMENTARY ON
And nji;ain, tlio miiltitudo. Thoy do us the most do, and custom, and other false rules. These rules will not eomfort us. To say, I did it by such an example, I did as others among whom I live did, or I did it be- cause it was the custom of the times ; these things being alleged will com- fort nothing. For who gave you these rules ? Doth (xod say anywhere in his word, You shall be; judgcMl by the example of others, you shall be judged by the custom of the times you live in '?
No ; you shall bo judged by my word. The word that Moses spake, * and the word that I speak, shall judge you ' at the last dav, John xii. 48. They that have not the word shall be judged by the word wTittcn in their hearts. ' Those that have sinned without the law ' shall be judged by that, ' without the law of Moses,' Rom. ii. 12.
God hath acquainted us with other rules. We must take heed of this, therefore, that we get good rules. Take heed that they be not false rules. For the want of these directions men come to have ill consciences. Where there is no good rule, there is a blind conscience ; where there is no appli- cation of the rule, there is a profane conscience ; and where there is a false rule, there is an erroneous, a scrupulous, a wicked conscience.